In today's world, there are two primary standards for fasteners and tools, SAE and metric. To a lesser degree the British Whitworth standard is still used. In our global economy, multi-national companies often manufacture cars, trucks, boats, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, machinery, etc, using both SAE and metric standard sized fasteners on the same machine or object. This situation forces users, mechanics, repair personnel, etc to own, or have access to both SAE and metric tool sets. When two standards are predominate, such as SAE and metric, and in mixed use, much time can be wasted searching for the right tool to loosen or tighten a fastener. There have been many patents filed that attempt to address identifying tools whether they are manufactured according to the SAE, metric, or other standard.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,627, to Ken A. Johnson, describes a convoluted color system for use in identifying SAE and metric tools. This invention is not a universal marking system. It is instead based on ten different colors being used in combination to more easily identify tools within a standard, not across standards. What is needed is a unified marking system for identifying tools across various size standards.
US Patent Application 2008/0196562, to Elliston, et al, describes a system for use in identifying nut driver tools. This invention is not a universal marking system, but rather provides for marking the side of the handle, or the shaft with the size of the nut driver tool. What is needed is a unified marking system for identifying tools across various size standards.
US Patent Application 2001/0050477, to Andrew M. Hiller, describes a convoluted multi-tiered color system for use in identifying SAE and metric tools. This invention is not a universal marking system and is based on ten different colors being used in combination to more easily identify tools within a standard, not across standards. What is needed is a unified marking system for identifying tools across various size standards.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,831, to Larry G. Crosser, describes a convoluted color system for use in identifying SAE and metric tools. This invention is not a universal marking system, it is based on ten different colors being used in combination to more easily identify tools within a standard, not across standards. What is needed is a unified marking system for identifying tools across various size standards.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,950, to, Larry G. Crosser, describes a convoluted color system for use in identifying SAE and metric tools. This invention is not a universal marking system, but instead is based on ten different colors being used in combination to more easily identify tools within a standard, not across standards. What is needed is a unified marking system for identifying tools across various size standards.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,227, to Arthur C. Vogel, describes a convoluted color system for use in identifying SAE and metric tools. This invention is not a universal marking system and is based on ten different colors being used in combination to more easily identify 10 tools within a standard, not across standards. What is needed is a unified marking system for identifying tools across various size standards.
What is needed is a unified system, method, and apparatus that employs the use of sequential markings, or relative size markings in order to quickly determine the nearest size tool, or other object, regardless of the standard a tool, or other object, is manufactured to.